


In Screaming Color

by BigBadTardis



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Episode AU: s01e01 Rose, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:34:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28301673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigBadTardis/pseuds/BigBadTardis
Summary: Rose Tyler was never normal, she had complete color blindness, but then she met a man and everything fell into place.
Relationships: Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler, The Doctor (Doctor Who)/Rose Tyler
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56
Collections: That's My Soul Mate





	In Screaming Color

**Author's Note:**

  * For [badwolfgay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/badwolfgay/gifts).



> A Christmas gift for one of my besties, Badwolfgay or Timepetals on twitter. <3 Merry Christmas!! And as always my beta Dittyel has read through it!

Rose Tyler was special from the very beginning for a very important reason. She had unexplained total color blindness. Her eyes were completely undamaged. For a while, people thought she was faking, but since she had been acting like that her whole life, eventually the doctors accepted that Rose Tyler was just a phenomenon. Rose was different and her mother spent her whole life trying to keep Rose from feeling it. 

“What color is this, Mum?” Rose asked, one day, only nine years of age.

“Pink!” Jackie held the cardigan out for Rose to feel it. 

“It’s soft,” Rose said. “I think I like pink.”

“Of course, Honey. It’s a lovely color.”

* * *

When she was 19, she had just started a job at Henrik’s. Mostly behind the scenes stuff since she couldn’t see color. She didn’t expect the job would lead her to her murder by a bunch of weird mannequins. Then a hand grabbed hers and she turned around to face him. Her eyes widened and all of a sudden everything was so bright! Things were different. Instead of the shades of grey she usually saw in, everything was filled to the brim with vibrant colors Her mouth fell open and the man who grabbed her hand had the same shocked look on his face.

“Run,” he said. He pulled her away from the mannequins and they ran down the hall and into the elevator, which he had broken into. He looked around late 30s or early 40s and had dark hair cut close to his head and light eyes. 

“Hold on!” Was the first thing she said when she got her wits about her. “Is this color?” Before he could respond Rose continued to talk. “This is color!” 

The man was looking at her, stunned. His light colored eyes were wide. “You’re my soulmate,” he whispered. 

Rose glared at him. “What did you say?” 

“You couldn’t see color before and now you can?”

“Yeah,” Rose said skeptically. She crossed her arms and stared at him. Who was this man? She had never met him before but she felt like she knew him her whole life. 

“I’m the same way,” he said. He took her hand again and Rose felt a shock race through her body. “This should be impossible.”

“I’m confused.” 

The man pulled something out of his jacket. Rose’s eyes widened when she realized it was a bomb. “This building is infested with those things. We’re the only people alive in this building right now. This is the only way I can take them all out.”

“Who are you?”

“It’s a long story.” 

The elevator beeped and he pulled her out of the store. 

“Well you better explain!” She demanded while they were running. 

“I promise I will, but you have to give me time.”

“You’re going to blow up my job!”

“No one is in the building anymore!” 

“What about Wilson?” Rose asked. 

Suddenly the atmosphere darkened. “Wilson’s dead.”

“What?” Rose paled. 

“Those things in there? They’re called Autons and they killed him. There’s a relay tower on the roof. This is the only way to stop them.” The man opened the door and let Rose out. “I’ll be back. I owe you an explanation.”

* * *

Rose ended up going home that night. She couldn’t wait around for him forever, her mum would be worried. And worried she was. Rose didn’t even have the chance to tell her she could see color until she had been home for an hour. Rose was sitting on the couch, her head resting on a pillow. 

“I like your tracksuit, Mum. Pink right?” 

“Yeah, picked it out a couple of weeks ago.”

“Did you get any others?”

“Yeah, want me to show you?” Jackie turned around and looked at her daughter.

“Sure.” Rose had actually seen those tracksuits when Jackie had gotten them, but since she was so on edge, Rose wanted to make Jackie feel at ease. If she had something to do then she wouldn’t be bouncing off the walls. 

Jackie ran and got three tracksuits out of her closet and showed them to Rose. Rose pressed her hand over her mouth when she realized that they were all different colors. 

“They look so different.”

“How do you mean?” Jackie asked, intrigued. 

“Well, they’re different colors, when I saw them a bit ago I thought they were all the same.”

“What did you just say?” Jackie asked with a gasp. 

“They’re different colors?” Rose repeated. 

“Wait! Can you see?” Jackie exclaimed. She practically tackled Rose, squeezing her in a tight hug. 

Rose frowned. “I knew I was forgetting to tell you something.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Jackie asked, sitting down next to Rose. 

“Well, Mum, my job was just blown up. I guess I had other things to think about.” Rose didn’t tell her about the man she met. She didn’t think the reaction Jackie would give her would be a positive one.

“How?”

“I don’t know,” Rose responded. “It happened right before the building exploded.”

“This is incredible!” Jackie practically jumped out of her seat and began talking about all the colors. Showing Rose the different colors around the house. And then she pointed to a salt shaker, which was the same color as the man she met’s eyes. 

“This is a light blue shade.” Jackie handed the salt shaker to Rose. 

“Blue,” she said with a smile. “I see.”

The next day, Rose was getting a drink out of her fridge when she heard a knock at the door. She walked to the door and pulled it open. 

It was him, the man. Rose wanted to say something intelligent to him, but instead she said. 

“Your eyes are blue.”

He seemed a little stunned. “I suppose they are.” 

“How did you find me?”

He looked nervous. “How about we take a walk? I have something to show you.”

Rose would’ve been skeptical, but something about him just made her trust him. She picked up her phone from the kitchen table and yelled to her mum. “Mum! I’m going out!” 

“Alright, Sweetie!”

Rose and the man left to take a walk. “I’m Rose,” she said, introducing herself. 

“I’m the Doctor.”

“Just the Doctor?” Rose asked, with furrowed eyebrows. 

“Yes.”

“Are you a drug dealer?” 

“No!”

The Doctor started talking about something, but Rose was too busy staring at all the colors she hadn’t previously seen before. Rose gave an awed sigh as she looked at the greens and blues of the earth around her. She had no idea it was so beautiful. She was never a fan of going outside before. Everything was boring to her. Until now. She noticed the different colors of spray paint on the brick, and the sudden shifts in color on the buildings. How had this been hidden from her all her life? 

“You got all that?” He asked. 

“No.”

“What do you mean no?” His voice was indignant. 

“Look at it!” She said, joyfully. She extended her arms out and spun around. “I’d always heard that this place was ugly, but I think it’s beautiful.”

“Let me show you something,” the Doctor said. He pointed to a box at the corner of the street. Rose didn’t even realize it was there until he pointed it out. She tried to think of the color. It wasn’t green and it wasn’t black, so… It was blue! A dark and rich blue color. 

“You want to show me a box?”

“You’ll find it much easier to believe what I’m about to say if I have proof,” he replied. 

“Proof of what?” Rose asked. Her brows furrowed.

“Let me show you first.”

“Alright.”

The pair walked to the box and Rose looked at more of the details. It wasn’t touching any walls or trees. It was just standing on its own. The Doctor opened the door and motioned for her to enter. Rose didn’t get any hostility from the Doctor, so she took a chance on him and entered the box. Her eyes widened when she saw the massive coral structures and golden light coming from the ceiling. She walked backwards out of the box. That wasn’t real. It was some sort of art installation or something. The Doctor walked into the box while Rose walked around it. Her eyes widened when she saw it wasn’t connected to anything. 

“Come on in!” He called from inside the box. His northern accent echoed through the doorway. 

Rose stormed back into the blue box. She walked straight up the grating and towards the man who gave her color vision. 

“So, where do you want to start?” he asked. 

“The inside’s bigger than the outside?”

“Yes.”

“It’s alien.”

“Yes.”

What happened seemed to click with her. Rose felt like she understood. “And you’re an alien?” 

“Got it in one go!” He said, impressed. 

“I think I know what happened.” She crossed her arms. He raised his eyebrow and nodded his head. “You’re like some alien healer or something. You went to save me and then you accidentally fixed my eyes.”

She watched as his face went from neutral to a somewhat happy face. “You were completely wrong!” 

Rose puffed out her cheeks. “Well you don’t need to be so happy about it.”

The Doctor started to laugh. “What’s your logic?” 

“Well, you have a police box where the inside is bigger than the outside. And for my whole life I couldn’t see color. Until I met you. What’s so implausible about an alien with healing powers?” 

The Doctor continued to smile. “You’re brilliant,” he said. “Completely wrong, but brilliant!” 

“So,” Rose asked, walking to the console in the center of the room. “Tell me. How come I can see color?” 

The Doctor sighed and leaned against the console. “My people, we used to have this connection to our partners. They called it soulmates. The people perfect for us...” Rose’s eyes stayed wide open, but she let him continue. “There were different ways to discover who your soulmate was. I have–had,” he corrected. “The most common. You can see in black and white until you touch your soulmate. That’s why we couldn’t see color until I took your hand in that shop. We’re soulmates.”

Rose’s breath shook. Soulmates? It didn’t seem real, but Rose still trusted him. Something in the pit of her stomach told her he was trustworthy. “So,” Rose said. “The reason I couldn’t see in color was because we’re connected?” 

“Yes. It’s also how I found you. My mind can sense yours.” His ice blue eyes searched hers. “Is that a problem?” 

Rose reached for his hand. When they touched, Rose felt an energy travel through her body. She had never felt so  _ right _ before. Being with him was somehow meant to be.

“No.” Rose shook her head. “Not a problem at all.”

  
  



End file.
